A Career Worth Celebrating: Vincent Bouchard
November 2024
Vincent Bouchard, General Manager France, retired on December 31st, 2024.
After a distinguished career, Vincent Bouchard, General Manager France, will be stepping into a well-deserved retirement as he embarks on the next chapter of his life in 2025. Over the past nine years, Chaucer has flourished under his exceptional leadership, and his expertise, guidance, and presence will be greatly missed. We had the privilege of sitting down with Vincent for one final interview, where he shared insights into his remarkable career and offered valuable advice for the team as they continue to move forward in his absence.
Q: How long have you been with Chaucer Foods?
A: I spent 9 years at Chaucer Foods, the longest time on the same site during my career.
Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of?
A: I managed to make people more autonomous, to encourage them to take initiative and improve their knowledge. Most people discover they have unsuspected skills!
Q: What was the most rewarding part of your career?
A: So many items! Hearing people acknowledge I played a role in their progress to achieve ambitious projects.
Getting to know many different cultures: all over France along 6 working locations, and especially during my Chaucer time working with global cultures.
Also learning new processes like:
- Soft & hard wheat milling for flour and semolina.
- Cosmetic manufacturing (liquids, solid, powders)
- Petfood extrusion
- Fresh vegetable packing
- Recently freeze-drying!
Q: What skills or qualities do you think are important for success in leadership?
A: Very simple qualities!
- Build a true long-term vision and share it.
- Set clear objectives and cascade them with rigor.
- Define rules with your team (you first must follow them).
- Hire people smarter than you.
- 100% of people have some sort of skills. Your roles is to put people in the right place.
- Regularly support team members either to show interest and provide help.
- Reward people for both efforts and achievements.
- Ensure all this is done with daily fun and enthusiasm!
- Be human and accept that you can break the rules when needed.
Q: What would you say to someone beginning their career at Chaucer Foods?
A: Work as if it was your own business. If not, you will be less credible and less followed.
Q: What has been your favorite part of working for Chaucer Foods?
A: Awaking every morning while thinking I will join a very collaborative team. Sincerely.
I saw each member of our team shifting from daily siloed work to a permanent, cross-functional project mode.
Q: What have you learned from your time at Chaucer?
A: Those of us on-site must constantly inform, suggest & report to headquarters, to help them with decision-making, for the purpose of both client satisfaction and cost management. We must also communicate any concerns encountered and resolved, either to demonstrate our commitment to commercial efficiency or to show that we’re working as one team.
Q: What are you looking forward to most in retirement?
A: So many things!
First, disconnecting from my work. My wife is currently wondering if I really get to retire, as I’m still drawing future projects for SAUMUR.
Then, I must admit I have already planned and “classified”: time for my family, time with others, time for others, and time for me, which means:
- In May 2025 I will be taking a hiking trip across the whole French Alps. I will travel from the Mediterranean Sea to Geneva. I will spend 5 weeks in high altitude, sleeping either in refuge or bivouacs under the stars.
- In the Summer of 2025, I will spend 4 weeks sailing alone with my wife along the French Britany North coasts (No rush, no speed KPIs, only reading maps to use tidal current and wind forecast to…optimize speed)
- In the summer of 2026, I’ll embark on my second hiking adventure. This time, I’ll spend five weeks completing the Alps crossing, starting in Geneva, Switzerland, and ending in Innsbruck, Austria.
- Continue contributing to an organization that builds homes and apartments for both disabled and non-disabled residents, while managing daily life with dedicated staff and activities. Four projects have already been completed in Angers, with three more underway in Brittany. You can learn more at simondecyrene.org.
- Refurbish an old windmill to grind wheat into flour, and create an educational project with the local school focused on the gifts of nature (wind, sun, rainwater, wood). The project will teach how to grow wheat, grind it, and bake bread using only natural energy and materials—no artificial inputs!
- And of course, caring for my wife, 4 children, 4 children-in-law and our 7 grandchildren (to date)
Q: What advice would you like to leave for your colleagues?
A: Ease your colleague’s work. Simplify their missions, transmit your energy.
Never give up: working hard never deceives.
Always continue to learn and improve your skills.
Consider business as a great game to play and win as a team!
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